Ralph Nader appears on "Meet the Press'" Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008, with moderator Tim Russert at the NBC studios in Washington. Nader said Sunday he will run for president as a third-party candidate, criticizing the top White House contenders as too close to big business and pledging to repeat a bid that will "shift the power from the few to the many." (AP Photo/Meet The Press, Alex Wong

Former Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti, Northeastern University Athletic Director Peter Roby, Ohio University professor David Ridpath and former Presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader all participated in the ESPN discussion panel.

On the surface abolishing athletic scholarships seemed ridiculous. But after listening to all the points, it did make some sense.

Essentially, Ralph Nader’s plan would eliminate athletic scholarships for solely need-based financial assistance. The academic department would govern the process, not the athletic department. Ideally, this would give student-athletes more control and help put the focus on education versus athletic performance.

“When you have the athletic scholarship, it is no longer a four-year scholarship. That stopped in 1973. It is now a one-year contract, renewable. Renewable on what? Well renewable on performance on the field or in the arena, not in the academic subjects. So the students are really under control of the coach and the athletic department who are sometimes merciless, sometimes tyrannical, make students play when they’re hurt and are not really looking out for the academic well-being of the student. If you want to have sports and you want to have scholarships, the solution is to have needs-based financial aid.”

In response to Bob Ley’s question/statement about the college experience focusing on the entertainment value, Nader said, “It’s really big business. If the colleges don’t want to go to a needs-based financial situation and take the student out of the clutches of the coaches, who sometimes own these students, what they can eat, where they can live, etc, then let’s forget about the farce of amateurism. Start commercial departments, entertainment departments as separate subsidiaries of Ohio University for example and pay the players what is due to them.”

Very interesting points here. But even if Nadar’s plan passed, it still wouldn’t eliminate corruption in college sports and it still wouldn’t create that much more balance between the billion dollar TV contracts, million-dollar revenues the athletic departments generate versus the payout to the student-athletes.

But could Nadar’s proposal be a step in the right direction for college sports?